OUTSIDE THE BOX

Designing a house to fit an angular lot in Bernal Heights

Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors open from the master bedroom onto a deck, left, on the uniquely designed Bernal Heights home on Mullen, above.

Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors open from the master bedroom onto a deck, left, on the uniquely designed Bernal Heights home on Mullen, above.

Photo: Olga Soboleva, Courtesy To The Chronicle

Photo: Olga Soboleva, Courtesy To The Chronicle

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Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors open from the master bedroom onto a deck, left, on the uniquely designed Bernal Heights home on Mullen, above.

Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors open from the master bedroom onto a deck, left, on the uniquely designed Bernal Heights home on Mullen, above.

Photo: Olga Soboleva, Courtesy To The Chronicle

OUTSIDE THE BOX

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Once upon a time, in a neighborhood where goats once roamed free, an abandoned garage sat alone on a steep, irregularly shaped corner lot. Over the years, many architects and developers visited the site trying in vain to squeeze a traditional boxy design into the angular space, each time failing to win favor with the Bernal Heights Design Review Board.

Luckily for this lonely lot, architect Craig Steely set out on a different path. Always one to march to his own drummer, he concluded that a literal interpretation of the planning code would only create a monster. "You can't fit a square box into a triangular hole," he says simply, adding that the majority of available empty properties in the city require creative thinking, and hence, a more complicated design. Steely and his team, including development and construction company Structura, saw how the individuality of the lot could fuel unique solutions. And on Jan. 13, 2005, the Bernal Heights Design Review Board unanimously approved their plans.

Although the resulting modern four-story, four-bedroom spec home at 306 Mullen St. dwarfs its cottage neighbors, it's a gentle giant, in terms of the way it courteously preserves its neighbors' views and honors the environment. Steely's final design was rooted in the ideas of transparency, sunlight and a direct connection with nature - a combination uncommon to San Francisco's dominant Victorian architecture.

Listed at $2.295 million and complete with an elevator, solar panels and 30-foot timber bamboo growing through the home, it's surprising how much the structure blends into its surroundings. Bordered by the narrow and winding Mullen Street on two sides, you could drive right by without noticing it - almost.

As green as it is grand, gray water (from showers and sinks) will flow to a cistern under the house, where it will be used to irrigate the landscaping. A 2-kilowatt photovoltaic solar panel system will provide electricity, and a net energy meter from PG&E will allow homeowners to sell back unused power while also ensuring that they always have reserves on hand.

Both mellowed and inspired by a healthy dose of island living (he lives on the Big Island of Hawaii with his wife and son), Steely is keen on incorporating lots of functional indoor-outdoor space into his designs - including partly enclosed courtyards, wall-length sliding glass doors, and wind-sheltered decks. In some cases (for the second-floor studio and entertainment rooms) it's even necessary to walk outdoors to get to another part of the house.

"The projects I've done in Hawaii have definitely changed the way I think about houses," he says.

Arriving at the property with his surfboard in tow, Steely wears a rust-colored velour top, blue cotton work pants and faded Vans. He begins our tour by meticulously watering the plants. The minimalist, low-maintenance landscaping complements the home, and the rustling of leaves and gurgling water from the pond and waterfall muffle noise from the freeway below. Stone ground cover is dotted with Japanese maples, bamboo, and a variety of ferns (horsetail, asparagus and Hapu'u). Ipe wood siding lines the back wall of the garden.

By creating a landscaped buffer that runs the full length of the site, he was able to preserve open space between the neighboring buildings and orient the home to catch the full arc of the sun throughout the day. This yard also acts to preserve the views for the neighbors in the rear.

Galvanized-steel steps lead from the street up the steep side yard to the pond and bridge crossing. The front door opens onto the expansive living and dining room, with its custom-designed suspended Fireorb fireplace. The galley kitchen sits just off of the dining room and allows the owners to arrive with their shopping bags in hand by way of the elevator.

Ten-foot ceilings create a feeling of spaciousness and light, and because the house naturally slopes with the site, it takes full advantage of views of the Bay Bridge, Mount Diablo and the East Bay. Steely used the windows as a design element throughout the home; in the living room the large top window frames the industrial view of the bay, while the lower rectangular window further brightens the space. Sleek awning windows provide natural cross ventilation. The sometimes-crazy angles of the rooms are a direct function of the shape of the lot. Steely recalls enjoying the challenge of resolving the proportions through numerous and complicated experiments that eventually paid off.

The lot's existing cypress tree serves to shade the house, maintain the neighbors' views and secure the privacy of the master bedroom whose floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors open onto a walkout deck. The master bathroom has zebrawood cabinets and a tub and shower enclosed by glass with an all-tile floor. It doesn't hurt that it is also surrounded by the tranquil view of the landscaped side yard.

To Steely, it isn't enough to create modern architecture. It has to be good modern design, which means having good flow, an intuitive layout, and an abundance of natural light.

"Now that modern architecture has arrived en masse in San Francisco, we can finally begin to view it with a more critical eye."